Coring machine



R. M. MAGNUSON ET AL CORING MACHINE May 9, 1950 Filed Aug. 1, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .FIG./

\INVENTOR5 I? M. Moan 0.10m 1 7241 52 J 5M/1'H Y 1950 R. M. MAGNUSON E1 AL 2,506,802 I 'coRI'NG MACHINE Filed Aug. 1, 1 947 2 SheetsSheet 2 l ATTOF/YEY i atentecl May 9 i956 r an d about the postn is; a; lower gable u per frame "or turret is comprisinggable 4. "in ltu' t en mble;| 4 is joiirhfilldlbyla sleveIbeaJifihgQll '(Figurezyabout the'p'o's'tl'l. "In one .preserrt instance the drive for the .i'turr'et and table gme'cha'nisrnmay take the form of a vw'o'riil gear- '61 ecureq on; the-upperplate l'9owithin a housing izr caLrrieiby, the :motorfbracket' 1'2; arid. *arworm '63 cooperqtingylith the worm wheelhand driven througheshaft, afis hehveififi Land. arbel t fi 'ls-fron r the motorsheayefit Tit-1e"motor IB may be-oflthe variable -speed dr-ive type -if epre ferreigl so what ther machine may operate at selected speeds.

magi-1 As wilI-nowwbe described, the machine is pro- H5116? while""Eiertam I J v -stations, 'eaeh of wh iehds cyoled successively ttarorlg le:theeor-mg operation. lhe slower table M carries an -:equally- =spaced :ser-iesof .iruit support-s of eimil a21- construction; one eat each-.woring-eta- 'liiem; 'coring'stationds provided with a-Qaga awe-musin s: securedrbycssuitable screws +32; r-to fitted-with aiSBIiese f equallyepaeed apamt eonirrg,

the lower face of the table !4 and dependin therefrom. Each housing 3! has a lower boss 33 which is internally threaded to receive a mounting and support member or nut 34 of the coring knife assembly. Each knife assembly includes a tubula knife support 36 press fitted in the nut 34 and carrying a tubular knife portion 31 having a smaller internal diameter than its support tube 36 with the knife edge flaring inwardly from the outer diameter downwardly to the inner diameter of the knife portion. This construction.

enhances passage of fruit cores through the knife assembly. A clamping nut 38 maintains the vertically adjusted position of the knife 31-with re-- spect to the table l4. 7

A sliding fruit support 4! is provided at each a location as indicated by the feed arrow in coring station in the form of a resilient ring 42 1 seated in a support and guide sleeve 43 which is provided with an annular flange 44 slidably engaging within the housing 3|. The support and guide sleeve 43 is secured by suitable screws to an inner flanged sleeve 36 which is guided on the tube 36. A compression sprin 47 extends between the lower end of the housing 3| and the lower face of the flanger l l so that the support and guide sleeve 43 is normally in its raised position, as shown in Figure 2, with its flange 44 engaging the lower face of the table l4 around the cooperating aperture Ma therein. It will be seen that the knife 31 is concealed in this upper position of the fruit support and that the fruit maybe freely placed upon its resilient support ring 42.

The resilient fruit support ring 42 may be formed of suitable material such as synthetic rubber to provide an inner upwardly facing substantially frusto-conical surface 42a which provides a fruit centering function, and an outer annular ri-b 42b which snaps into a, complementary recess in the sleeve 43 to retain the centering ring 42 in place.

Associated with each of the coring stations 4| there is provided a pusher comprising a re-. silient pad 52 having a planar lower surface and a recessed upper surfaceto provide a lip 52a engagingover a retaining collar 53. The collar 53 is threaded on the lower end of a pusher rod 54. The rod 54 is guided in a bearing 56 in the lower plate I! and at its upper endcarries a roller 56 engaging in a cam track 51 on the cam hub 23.

In the cycling of the machine, a desired selected amount of each cycle or rotation of operation of a corin station is provided as a feeding zone and in which all of the coring parts are idle. In the present instance the cam 51 is symmetrical so that a 180 .idle feedin zone is provided during which the operator can place fruit such as apples in the various stations as they travel through the feeding zone. After a coring station with an apple therein has travelled past the feeding zone, the cam' 57 becomes effective to move the pusher 5i downwardly so that its resilient pad engages the top of the apple on the fruit support, and by driving the apple, causes the fruit support 4| to recede from the position shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure 3. Thus the fruit is caused to telescope downwardly over the coring knife s? in carryin out the coring operation. This operation occurs as a coring station is travelling from left to right as viewed in Figure 1'. Subsequently, as the pusher is retracted by the cam 5'1, the fruit is raised from the coring knife by a spring 4! and can be either removed manually from the fruit support or can be swept off by a suitable conventional shunt when the fruit support or coring station Figure 1, there are no parts in operation which could cause injury to the operator. As a result, the operators entire attention can be directed toward the feeding of the fruit with the resulting faster processing of the fruit.

While we have shown and described certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be seen that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that its scope should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

'1. In a coring machine, a table rotatable about an upright axis, means for effecting a constant speed drive of said table, a series of depressible fruit supports carried by said table and normally spring-urged to an upper position, a coring device mounted within each of said supports and disposed in concealed relation with said support in its upper position and in exposed position upon receding of said support to its depressed position, the mounting means for said coring device supporting said coring device below the level of the table and being provided with a bottom Opening for ejection of cores therethrough, an upper frame connected for rotation with the table, a series of fruit pushers carried by said frame in alignment respectively with said fruit supports, andcam means for controlling reciprocation of said pushers.

-2. Ina coring machine, a table rotatable about an upright axis, means for effecting a constant speed drive of said table, a depressiblefruit support carried by said table and normally springurged to .an upper position, a tubular coring knife mounted within said support in a normally concealed position, the mounting means for said knife having a bottom opening for ejection of cores. therethrough, an upper frame connected for rotation with the table, a fruit pusher carried by said frame in alignment with said fruit support, and cam'means for controlling reciprocationof said'pusher.

3. In a coring machine, a, hollow fruit support having an upper resilient face, a tubular coring knife disposed within said fruit support, mounting means for said coring knife having a bottom opening coinciding with the opening through said coring knife for ejection of pits therethrough, means urging said fruit support upwardly to a position'in which said knife is concealed for feeding of fruit onto said upper face, and a pusher device in. opposed relation to said fruit support for engaging the fruit thereon and for pushing against the fruit to cause receding of the fruit support and engagement of the fruit with the coring knife.

4. In a coring machine, a rotary table, means for driving said table, a series of fruit coring stations on said table, each station including a depending frame having a tubular coring knife mounted in the bottom portion thereof and ex tending upwardly to adjacent the upper level of the table, a fruit support mounted within each depending frame and being guided about said knife and within said frame for receding movement from an upper position in which said knife is concealed for feeding of fruit on to the upper 5 face of said fruit support, and a pusher device in opposed relation to each fruit support for engaging the fruit thereon and pushing against the fruit to cause receding of the fruit support and m engagement of the fruit over the coring knife.

ROY M. MAGNUSON. TRAVER J. SMITH. RALPH K. DAUGHERTY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 131,126 Smith Sept. 3. 1872 330,839 Knapp Nov. 17. 1885 857,512 Baker June 18, 1907 1,284,132 Nikolow Nov. 5, 1918 1,583,100 Reynolds May 4, 1926 1,766,824 Jones June 24, 1930 2,097,170 Wilson Oct. 26, 1937 2,243,530 Kok May 27, 1941 

